Stargate Millennium: Final Judgement
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off series:Wolf Pack discovers a planet that's been operating a stargate program for decades in secrecy. After reaping the benefits of countless alien technologies, creating a powerful planetary defense, and with the Millennium Expedition seeking an alliance with them, they feel that it is time to reveal to the public the existence of the stargate.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: This is a new spin off which means new characters and new setting. If you are new then I recommend you read the first episode so you know what's happening. Otherwise, please review and enjoy.**

**A/N: Sixth episode. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**I also have put a trailer for this series on youtube.**

**watch?v=cFh4mIbxyko**

**Quick thing about the trailer: it is not just a bunch of random clips with music; I did not put it in there unless it was going to happen in one of my episodes (with a few obvious exceptions). It may be slightly different but similar enough that you can watch the trailer and point out which clip/audio came from which episode. If you see it in the trailer, it will happen in one of the episodes.**

**I have also started a forum about this on gateworld. threads/89185-Stargate-Millennium If you wish to ask me something just go to the forum page. Anyways, enjoy.**

-.-

**PROLOGUE**

It has been twenty years; it's been twenty years since the first team of humans was sent to Abydos. Thanks to the massive stone ring known as the stargate, Earth has made enormous leaps technology. They have a fleet of ships ready to defend their planet. They unlocked the secret of the lost city of Atlantis and the mysterious ninth chevron that led to Destiny. But, they had barely scratched the surface of the Alliance of Four Great Races. To this end, Earth has launched a new expedition to the fabled city Millennium, built by all four races. It's a new expedition in a new galaxy, and these are their adventures...

-.-

When Earth first opened the stargate, it unlocked an entire galaxy of dangers. From the jaffa with their stone cold will and code of honor to the nightmarish wraith with their incredible regenerative abilities to god-like Ori priors capable of destroying armies with a mere thought, alien warriors have challenged the primitives from the planet called Earth. But, unlocking Caldwell 70 has unlocked a new enemy. Dedicating their life and existence to combat, no other sight on the battlefield strikes fear like the Ror'char trooper. The dark samurai and black knights of the universe, these nigh unstoppable killing machines use some of the most advanced weapons and armor the stargate program has ever seen to compliment their supernatural skill and lethality. When the Ror'char armies march, entire worlds fall.

-.-

Previously on Stargate Millennium

In the Atlantis database was the description of a city built by the Alliance of Four Great Races called the Millennium in the galaxy of Caldwell 70. The SGC mounted the largest expedition to date in order to explore this city and unlock its secret. It is a one way expedition. Upon their arrival, the expedition comes across another team exploring the station lead by Exodan Krell. Krell explains that is he a military leader of the Ror'char, a coalition of empires that are this galaxy's superpowers. Their goal is galaxy-wide peace and prosperity. However, they believe that the only way to achieve this is by absolute control. They believe chaos, crime, and cruelty stem from freedom and a society must be told what to do or fall prey to this.

-.-

_"According to texts discovered by archaeologists, this is around the time the Ancients came across a vampiric race residing in the galaxy. It is said that these creatures possessed the ability to suck the very life out of a person with the mere touch of its hand. Historians still debate whether this is a mere myth or this vampiric race is actually an alien life form." _

_Professor Corin Nevec scanned the lecture hall, which was filled with students. He spotted some of them already fast asleep while others were fighting the urge, dozing off then jerking back up. Still, many were paying close attention to his lecture, their digital notepads open as they jotted down notes on what he said. _

_Corin turned his attention back to his holographic screen, which held the image of a deathly pale human, at least humanoid creature, with long white hair and a bony mask that covered its face. _

_"This right here is actually a depiction of the creature derived from descriptions found in ancient texts." _

_Corin briefly glanced at his watch. His time was nearly up. This was his last class of the day so that meant he could head home once this was over. _

_"We should about wrap this up," Corin said with a slight groan as he began stacking the papers on his desk. Hearing this, the class immediately began packing their bags. The digital notepad was certainly a big help with this, especially with how small it was no matter how many notes was put in it. _

_"Remember to read the next chapter: Failings of a Free Society. After our midterm, we will be covering the book: Strong Government, Strong People." _

_He didn't know how many people were actually listening as they filed out the door. Corin looked at his own digital notepad. It looked like a regular notebook but it only had one paper. He made a gesture as if he was going to turn the page. The words on the paper faded away and was replaced with another text. It wasn't long until the lecture hall was empty. Corin put all his materials into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. This was his last class for the day and it was time for him to head home._

_Outside the lecture room was a black-watch guard. He wasn't a regular Ror'char trooper and wore a gray and white uniform underneath their black vests of armor and had tinted faceplates on their helmets. _

_"Evening, professor," a guard greeted as Corin exited. Corin glanced at the green and gray pulse carbine in his hands._

_"Evening," Corin said friendlily back as he quickly walked passed._

_His teal car wasn't far from the lecture hall. He didn't try to pay much attention to the squads of other black-watch guards marching down the street. He quickly went back on the road and headed for the gate port at the edge of the city. Even from a distance, he could see the crowded parking lot, dozens of cars parked inside the grid of parking spaces. He looked at his watch as he went into the parking lot outside the gate port and waited. Finding one was, surprisingly, easy. A gate port was the only way, aside from space port, to get off a planet and it was always at least half full. Luckily, gate ports also built huge parking lots to compensate for this. _

_This was the Ror'char Empire. This was life in the empire. In many ways, it was a utopia. Crime was next to nonexistent. Every citizen was guaranteed a job. And people praised the Ror'char for this. But, all this came at a cost._

_"Wormhole to Yardris," the announcer boomed. "All transports, please prepare for departure." _

_Corin was pulled out of his thoughts. It was right on time. Corin and a small handful of other cars and one truck backed out of the parking lot and drove onto the ramp, ready for transport. At the end of the ramp, pearly white chevrons clamped around the edge, was a silver stargate and its shimmering event horizon covered the center of it like the surface of a pond. _

_"Wormhole active," the announcer said. "Transports, you may proceed." All the cars and the ramp began to slowly move forward. One by one they disappeared through the event horizon._

"Professor Nevec."

Corin looked up in surprise, tossed out of his thoughts and back into reality. He was in the Millennium conference room with his team, Wolf Pack. They were all seated around the U-shaped table and he was the only one standing. Old man General William Mercer sat at the other end of the table, his hands folded in front of him.

"Sorry," Corin said, taking a seat. General Mercer stared at Corin for moment, a little surprised to see Corin detached from reality for a moment.

"I apologize for my tardiness," Mercer said, straightening his tie and dress shirt. "The Dune Jumpers met some…unpleasant primitives."

Major Terra Nova, leader of Wolf Pack, understood what Mercer was hinting at. In Milky Way and Pegasus, a majority of the civilizations encountered by the teams were primitive humans that still lived in huts and used bows and arrows. In the galaxy of Caldwell 70, most of the civilizations were actually pretty advanced. Encountering a more primitive race was actually rare.

"I digress," Mercer added pleasantly. "You just came back from a mission, I'm interested in what happened."

Doctor Steven Chen and Lieutenant Charles Martin looked toward Nova to get to explaining.

This was also the time Martin would begin to feel useless. Nova was the team leader and would to most of the explaining. Chen was an engineer and the team's tech expert so he would talk about the technology. Corin was always in charge of foreign relations so he would talk about the alien cultures and negotiations. As for Martin, he was only the team's second in command and often felt useless as he waited for the briefing to be over.

"As you know, we've spent the past week working on building relations with the humans from the planet Elora," Nova explained.

"And we've made some good progress," Mercer said. "From your report, the people of Elora are not only technologically advanced but willing to establish an alliance. If we succeed in establishing relations, we can solve our resource problems."

"Considering how advanced Elora is, we can do more than that," Corin remarked. "Union of Amestris is one of the major countries on the planet and has been running a stargate program in secret for decades. Only four other super powers on the planet are aware of its existence and have been working with Amestris to obtain alien technology to defend their planet. That's why they started using the stargate to begin with: to find allies and technology to defend their planet."

"They've done a good job of that, by the way," Chen added. "Technologically, they're still decades away from naturally making hyperdrives but, thanks to alien technology they've obtained, they've created a fleet of seventeen ships capable of interstellar travel. They say they've established a powerful planetary defense. Surface to orbit missiles, phase dischargers, laser cannons, you name it. We still don't have a ship either. We might even be able to convince them to build us one."

"To defend themselves from the Ror'char?" Mercer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, they've never run into the Ror'char," Nova clarified.

"The Ror'char are in control of less than half the galaxy," Corin explained. "They've heard of the Ror'char in their explorations but they've never actually run into them. They've actually been defending them planet from pirate gangs."

"You mentioned them before," Mercer pointed out.

"Yeah, the pirates 'control' about a third of this galaxy," Corin said. "'Pirates' is more of a general term we use to talk about groups of people who lack any form of government and use criminal and terrorist tactics to get what they want."

"Think Lucian Alliance," Nova clarified.

"And you say they've successfully created a defense system against them?" Mercer asked with interest.

"They say they've actually stopped several attacks without their population ever finding out what happened," Chen said. "I'm hoping they wouldn't mind showing us what they can do."

"What's the catch?" Mercer asked. To him, this sounded all too easy.

"Well," Corin began to hesitantly explain. "Amestris has been thinking about revealing their stargate to the rest of the planet for a while. They have a defense fleet that's already succeeded in protecting their planet from numerous pirate attacks. For the most part, their planet is safe. But, they say they want to make their program public and use our proposed alliance to help drive it, that having 'aliens' interested in forming an alliance would help with the politics. They say they'll only complete our alliance once their stargate program is public."

"I see," Mercer said, his voice darkening. "That is troublesome; we need resources as soon as possible."

"They did permit us to study their starships while the negotiations are taking place," Chen chirped. "They've even invited us back while the negotiations are happening." He was not letting the opportunity to study alien technology slip out of his hands.

"These negotiations cannot simply take place over night," Mercer mentioned. Because of his high rank, General Mercer knew the basic workings of politics and knew that doing something like revealing a classified program as big as the stargate to the world would take a while.

"They're not," Nova said. "But, they've offered us room and board. They think the face of peaceful 'aliens' will help with the politics."

A smile spread across Mercer's face.

"Excellent," he said. "I will tell Commander Umar that I am temporarily transferring Major Hailey from the Dusk Riders to Wolf Pack for this mission. She and Doctor Chen can study Eloran technology together."

Chen groaned when he heard this.

"General, I think I can take care of this by myself," he protested.

"Major Jennifer Hailey is one of our best experts in alien technology," Mercer pointed out calmly. "Colonel Carter was, in fact, the one who recruited her for the stargate program."

"From one of her lectures on theoretical astrophysics, I know," Chen said. "People keep calling her a Carter clone. But, General, I think I can manage studying all the tech the ships myself."

"I thought one of the things they teach you as an engineer is to work with teams," Nova said.

"I don't have a problem working with others; I have a problem with astrophysicists," Chen protested. "The last thing I need is a person who specializes in making things more complicated than it seems. Have you heard Carter try to explain something? She takes what could be a really simple explanation…and finds the most complicated way of explaining it."

"I thought you worked well with Colonel Carter," Martin mentioned, remembering Chen was actually working with Carter to build a BC-305 before he left for Millennium.

"I do and I respect her, but astrophysicists are buckets of headaches and Jennifer Hailey is a gallon tub it packaged into a four foot nine box."

"This isn't a democracy," Mercer said. "Major Hailey will be working with Wolf Pack for the duration of this mission." Chen sighed in defeat. If Mercer insists on it, he can't stop it. "I understand this this will be a long term mission. Wolf Pack will return to Elora. Doctor Chen and Major Hailey will study their starship technology, see if there's anything we can harness. The rest of you will be there to…protect our investment. I want regular check in. Understood."

"Yes sir," Nova said with a nod.

"Great," Chen mumbled.

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

Corin still had a lot on his mind as he headed from the locker room to the gate room. He had more trouble holstering his nine millimeter than usual.

He left his homeworld over a month ago and now it was almost haunting him. He had begun to rethink his decision to leave.

"C'mon Corin," Nova called. The rest of Wolf Pack was geared up and ready, P90's in hand. Among them was a short young woman whose blonde hair was braided and pulled up in a bun behind her head but it was concealed under her black cap. Nova had her brown her tied in a ponytail for the mission. Chen carried a larger pack than usual and Corin suspected it was packed with computer equipment. Martin carried an ion rifle taken from the Ror'char, the one alien weapon on the team.

"You ready, mate?" Martin asked. Corin looked up in surprise, not expecting to be called.

"Yeah," Corin said, finally jamming his pistol into his holster. Hearing this, Nova looked toward the control room and gave the thumbs up. Donavan immediately dialing the DHD.

"Do we have any idea what type of technology they're going to show us?" Hailey asked as Corin strapped the last of his stuff into his vest pockets.

"They're reluctant to show us their weapons technology," Chen said with a groan, not wanting to explain anything. If he was working alone, he wouldn't have to. "They said they wouldn't mind showing us their shield technology."

"Should be fun," Hailey said cheerfully. She remembered that the stargate program on Earth was started for the purpose of finding advanced civilizations and technology to defend their home planet. For her, it was almost ironic that they discovered another civilization doing the same thing. Chen simply grumbled as the last chevron was engaged and the stargate activated, the great kawoosh shooting out of the ring before being sucked back into the shimmering puddle.

"Wolf Pack," General Mercer announced from the balcony of the control room. "You have a go." Nova gave a nod.

"Roll out!" she ordered.

-.-

It was clear that Elora was one of the more advanced civilizations that the stargate program has encountered. The gate room on the receiving end was a massive chamber that looked more like the hangar for a starship. Stacks of crates were piled at the sides. A massive system of rails with a crane hung from the ceiling. There wasn't a single window in sight, except for the ones from their control room. All the light came from glowing panels in the floor and ceiling. Soldiers were scurrying about with supplies and boxes in their hands. These soldiers obviously weren't geared for a fight, wearing their yellow uniforms instead of brown power armors.

"What's going on here?" Nova wondered aloud. It was obvious something was up. All the soldiers were moving around as if they were getting ready for something. It wasn't long before a familiar face emerged from the crowd.

"Chief Bronston," Nova greeted as a large and rather large gnarly man whose jaw was covered in hair stepped out of the crowd of soldiers.

"Major Nova," Bronston said. "Sorry about the mess."

"This is Major Jennifer Hailey," Nova introduced. Hailey instinctively saluted at this. "She and Chen will be studying your starship technology."

"Of course," Bronston said with a slight bow. He remembered their arrangement. Meeting alien cultures and forming an alliance with them was no easy task. You couldn't just befriend an alien race overnight any more than a man can become best friends with a stranger in the first five minutes of meeting. It took the Millennium Expedition and the Elorans a week to trust each other. "I'm glad you're here; your timing is perfect."

"What's going on here?" Nova asked. Bronston looked around, never realizing how it looked.

"We'll talk on the transport," he said, gesturing toward the hall. The team followed Bronston as he led them to the hangar, where the gray transport ship was waiting. It was a small box-shaped ship with a triangular two-man cockpit. In many ways, it looked like a transport helicopter without a rotor. The team loaded in with a few other soldiers and crates. Seats lined the wall with a space at the back for the cargo. The roof began to retract, revealing the starry night sky. Once everyone was inside the engines engaged and they took off. Long trails of flames spewed out of the engines as the transport lifted up out of the hangar and into the air. The doors around the transport closed and the ship pressurized. Through the windows, Wolf Pack could see the Amestrian Stargate Headquarters, at least the surface of it. Most of it was actually underground. But, the Amestrian government intended to change that.

"Where we headed?" Corin asked as the transport headed off.

"The capital," Bronston said. "Our president is getting ready to announce to the world the existence of the stargate program."

"This quickly?" Martin asked, surprised by how fast things were moving.

"It's about time we did, in my opinion," Bronston remarked. "When we first started the stargate program several decades ago, the galaxy was a lawless place run by criminal organizations and pirates. We've worked hard but, finally, we've reached a point where we can actually handle most of what's thrown at it. We all know we can't keep this a secret forever. This is as good a time as any to tell the word."

"You are aware of the potential political fallout, right?" Corin asked.

"If the world sees how small their problems are, what's really important, they'll come together," Bronston said confidently. "Once people realize that this is not just about individual countries anymore, they will begin to focus on their similarities instead of their differences."

"So you hope," Chen said bluntly. It was obvious that was not as confident about this.

"We're one planet. If we ever want to start exploring the galaxy, we have to do it together as a planet. We have the backing of the other world powers too, who've known about and participated in using our stargate for several decades."

"This could be beneficial to you too," Corin said to Nova. "If you ever find a way back to your planet before they go public with the gate on your world, it might give you some idea of what to expect or how people will react."

"What about us?" Hailey asked. "You said that you would give us a look at your starship technology."

"We're stopping at the capital first," Bronston explained. "There's something we need you to see. We will then take Chen and Hailey to the _Valorous_."

"Cool," Hailey said enthusiastically.

-.-

"Transport two-niner, your identification has been verified. You are cleared for approach."

"Copy that, control. We are coming in for landing carrying our off-world VIP's."

As the transport came in for a landing, the team could see the capital city through the windows. They watched as the glossy towers and spires reaching for the sky. Intricate mazes of roads wound between marble white buildings. The ship passed over this and headed for the airport.

The transport hovered over the landing pad as it slowly began its descent. A cloud of dust picked up under the ship as it neared the pad. Finally it set down, the hum of the engine fading.

"Oh yes, Major," Bronston said as he stood up. Workers immediately boarded the transport to unload the crates. "We did talk about bringing weapons to the capital."

"You said we could bring them if we leave them in our room," Nova said as Wolf Pack got ready to disembark the ship.

"Your quarters in in a building linked directly to the Amestrian Defense Headquarters," Bronston said. "There will be a limo waiting for us outside to take us there."

Martin instinctively smiled when he heard this. They got to ride a limo.

Bronston lead the team outside where a sleek silver limo, at least limo-like vehicle, was waiting for them. On the road, they got a good look at the city. The sun had just begun to rise and the city lights had just begun to blend with the sunlight.

"When will we be allowed to see the ship?" Chen asked Chief Bronston as the limo cruised down the street.

"We have a ring platform built in the ADH. It'll lead straight to our fleet."

"So the reveal will take place while you show us some of your technology," Hailey said, putting the pieces together.

"I'm sorry if we're dragging you into our politics," Bronston apologized as they drove down the crowded streets. "We'll honor our end of the agreement once our stargate program becomes public knowledge. We've already dedicated too many resources into keeping it a secret."

"We need these resources to survive," Nova said. "Corin wouldn't mind observing your politics though." Corin looked at Nova in mild surprise. She knew he actually enjoyed watching history unfold before him. It was one thing to study text books about planets revealing the stargate to the public or stories of similar scenarios but he was actually going to see it happen first hand.

"He can watch, but I'm not sure if our president will want him to take part in it," Bronston replied. "Today is the day. Representatives from every country are arriving as we speak as well as reporters from every news station."

"Just wondering?" Martin spoke up. "What are the rest of us going to do? No offense, I don't like politics." Bronston didn't answer; he smiled at this question.

"We're here," the driver announced as the vehicle pulled to the side.

-.-

The majestic green walls with a dark blue carpet made the Amestrian Defense Headquarters feel like a palace. The security guards were easily identified by their mechanical power suits, which would increase their strength while protecting them at the same time. It was clear security didn't like the 'aliens' walking around a government complex with guns. This was the day the stargate would be revealed on their planet and their government was hoping the face of some 'friendly aliens' would help with the politics.

"Before we continue, there is something we need you to see," Brontson said.

"What is it?" Nova asked. This was the second time Bronston mentioned this. Whatever he wanted to show them, it must've been big.

"Around the same time our exploration team ran into you, another team ran into another alien group interested in an alliance," Bronston explained. "Though, their offer isn't as nice."

"Who?" Nova asked. It was at that moment Wolf Pack immediately froze in their tracks. They had to call on every ounce of control to not raise their weapons. Their eyes widened in shock as their answer emerged from the crowd with a pair of bodyguards, black trench coat waving with every step he took. They stared a familiar rigid gray face emerged, laying his oily black eyes on Wolf Pack.

"Hello again, Major Nova," Overlord Exodan Krell greeted. Bronston looked at Krell, then back at Wolf Pack, stunned that the two were acquainted.

Martin had his eyes on the two troopers standing behind Krell. It was strange not seeing them with their ion rifles but even without them, the two troopers stood tall like a pair of grim reapers just waiting for the order and opportunity to send them to the afterlife. He almost wished he could see their expressions through their tinted gray face plates. Even without their guns, they still wore their black suits of armor that was lined with pockets and pouches.

"What are you doing here?" Nova asked darkly.

"Diplomacy," Krell said. "As Overlord, I also begin acting as a representative on behalf of my sovereignty."

Nova stared at Krell. She knew Ror'char diplomacy only ended one way.

"You," Krell said, looking at Chen. The gray-skin alien remembered the human quite well from the last time they fought, hand to hand. "You were the one I fought in the Asgard ruins. What is your name?" Chen looked at Krell suspiciously. Giving a name shouldn't hurt.

"Chen," he answered.

"Yes, we crossed paths," Krell said with a smile. "You are a most capable fighter; applaud your skill."

Bronston looked at Krell then at Nova in surprise. It was obvious the two knew each other.

"Why not I show you to your quarters first," Bronston suggested. Nova gave a nod and followed as they walked off. Corin glared at Krell as they walked past.

-.-

"What is Krell doing here?!" Martin exclaimed as he paced around their quarters. Several massive bedrooms were connected to the luxurious lounge with a couch, and a holographic television which was off at the moment. A table sat beside a balcony and held a holographic computer. Chen was busy trying to hook up their computers to the Eloran one. The closet door was open and stored their equipment. Their weapons leaned against the back of the closet and their vests hung on several hangars. It would've been enjoyable to sit back and relax here. However, they weren't relaxed.

"Wasn't Krell the one that lead the attack on Millennium?" Hailey asked from the couch she sat on. She had her hat off and let her braid lose, dangling behind her head.

"Sorta," Nova said. "He spent most of his time in the conference room and ran when the fighting started."

"However the negotiations went back then will be exactly how negotiations between him and the Elorans will be," Corin said. "He won't accept anything except annexation into the sovereignty."

"Done!" Chen said, throwing up his hands as if to celebrate. "We're hooked up to the computer system. We can access their internet as if it was Earth's."

"Well, we can now watch what happens once they make the reveal," Nova remarked. "If this works, we will have an advanced ally that can give enough resources to survive."

"What do we do about Krell then?" Martin asked. "If Elora gets annexed then we aren't going to get any of this."

"And we can't fight them either," Hailey said. "They've integrated dozens of aspects of Alliance technology into their own. I'm still trying to figure out how it works." Nova took a moment to ponder this. They couldn't let the Ror'char get Elora but they couldn't fight with force.

"Even if the Ror'char weren't here, our situation isn't looking any better," Chen remarked. "We need Elora's public disclosure to go well if we want any sort of alliance with them."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"You mean aside from the Elorans blowing themselves up?"

"The social and political implications may be more important than you think," Corin pointed out. "I've been reading stuff about your planet, Earth, and Elora definitely has a lot of similarities. This isn't Earth but it'll give us a good idea on what to expect if the stargate program is revealed."

"You blokes worry too much," Martin said. "Yeah, I'm sure there'll be some problems and downsides, some greedy business people will want to take advantage of alien tech, protests and rioting probably, and I'm sure there'll be people racist against aliens, and there's going to be a bunch of politics that needs to be sorted, and such, but everything will be fine."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Nova called.

The door opened a crack and a young woman peeked in.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she said timidly. "Chief Bronston is ready to take Doctor Chen and Major Hailey to the _Valorous_."

"Alrighty then," Chen said, him and Hailey standing up. "We'll see what they can show us."

"One more thing. Major Nova, Overlord Krell wants to see you."

Nova looked up in surprise when she heard this.

"Did he say why?" Nova asked. The woman at the door simply shook her head.

"Right," Nova said, getting up to leave. "Martin, Corin, General Mercer's going to gate in for a check in. Be ready to receive."

"We got it, Major," Martin said with an enthusiastic thumbs up.

-.-

"Doctor," Bronston greeted as Chen and Hailey made it to the ring platform. They could see the circle built into the ground. Several armored security guards stood on standby as they watched Hailey and Chen step into the circle.

"They're in position," Bronston said over his communicator as he stepped back from the circle. There was a loud whoosh as a set of marble white rings shot up from the floor, surrounding the duo. A blinding flash of light completely covered the world around them like a curtain. The light then faded away, revealing the sleek silver hallway of the ship they were now on.

"Doctor Chen and Hailey," a croaking voice said as the commander stepped forth, dawning a dark blue uniform. He didn't have the raw and gnarly look that Bronston had but a stern and commanding appearance. "I'm Commander Galligan. Welcome aboard the _Valorous_." Chen and Hailey stared in amazement as several members of the crew walked past in their silver uniforms.

"Is there anything you're interested in looking at first?" Galligan asked.

"Shields would be nice," Chen said.

"Guess I'll look at engines then?" Hailey asked. Chen grumbled in agitation.

"You go do what astrophysicists do best: find something simple and complicate it."

-.-

Nova eyed the single guard at the door in front of Krell's room. This wasn't the usual Ror'char trooper. For one, this one was much larger, an easy seven feet tall. Its armor was a dull tan instead of oily black. Its helmet was a dull gray but wasn't shape like the helmets of the Ror'char troopers. It was a dome shaped around his head with green glowing view ports. While this guard was humanoid it was obvious he wasn't human from the fact he had four of these view ports; whatever wore this armor had four eyes. He didn't have a gun but it didn't look like this hulking giant would need one.

"I'm here to see Overlord Krell," Nova said. The guard stared at her for a moment.

"She's here," the guard finally said through its radio.

"Send her in," Krell replied.

The guard gently pushed the door open and Nova walked inside. She didn't know what to expect but she was surprised when she saw that Krell was not alone. He was staring out the window and standing next to him was another Ror'char soldier. This one wore the regular trooper gear but had his helmet off, revealing a clearly alien face. Whatever race this person was, he looked like a fish that decided to take human form. The armor concealed his body but she could see the trooper's dark purplish skin that glistened in the light. A frill of webbed spines protruded from the back of his head as if it was their version of hair. Where the ears would be were another pair of webbed spines. Nova couldn't tell if these covered their ears or if these were their version of ears.

"That'll be all," Krell told the trooper. "You're dismissed." The fish-like Ror'char trooper gave a single bow as his image seemed to distort then vanish. He was simply a hologram.

Krell could not help but notice Nova's surprised look. She knew she shouldn't be surprised. The Ror'char had been conquering civilizations all across the galaxy and incorporating the races they came across into their civilization, so even the most alien became a part of their society.

"You've never seen an icthyan before, have you?" Krell asked. Nova instinctively glanced over her shoulder, wondering if Krell was referring to the giant guard as the four eyed guard closed the door.

"Or an antenok for that matter," Krell added.

"You're point?" Nova asked. Krell slowly turned away from the window, his hands folded behind his back.

"After our first encounter, I could not help but wonder," he said. "You were clearly aware of how to use the stargate and are familiar with Alliance technology. Yet, you have never even heard of the Ror'char, one of the superpowers in this galaxy. This would suggest you have not ventured out into this galaxy much at all. Yet, you've clearly mastered gate travel to a degree. So I wondered how this could be possible."

Krell slowly paced over to a table which held what looked like a glass of wine. He picked up the crystalline glass and took a sip.

"There is only one explanation," he said. "You're not from this galaxy."

Nova shifted uncomfortably. She thought about the wraith, who became obsessed with finding Earth after finding out that the expedition was from another galaxy.

"Do not be so surprised," Krell said simply, taking another sip of his drink. "You are in fact the third extragalactic force here."

"Third?" Nova asked.

"Indeed. The Ror'char themselves did not originate in this galaxy. The Ror'char actually originated in another galaxy far from this one. They freed their entire galaxy of both oppressive and defective governments, using Alliance technology they acquired, integrating this technology into their own. Among this technology was advanced hyperdrives that let them travel to other galaxies. The Ror'char have already completely liberated two galaxies, one being their own. Once this one has been freed, this will be the third and hopefully the turning point to our civil war."

"And the third force?" Nova asked. She wasn't interested in how many galaxies the Ror'char ruled but who the third power they had to worry about was.

"The other superpower, the Harvesters, are a force from another galaxy. They arrived here not long after the Ror'char did."

"You mentioned them before. Who are the Harvesters?" Nova remembered when they first encountered Krell on the Millennium, he mentioned fighting the Harvesters.

Krell simply smiled when he heard this.

"I'll let you and your people have the pleasure of encountering them first hand," he chuckled. "But, for now, I'm interested in your presence on Elora."

"A peaceful alliance," Nova said bluntly. "Unlike yours."

"My intentions are peaceful," Krell said innocently.

"And when they turn down your offer you attack," Nova pointed out.

"Which is done for their own good," Krell stated, setting down his glass. "But enough of that. I'm sure you've already heard enough philosophical preaching. It is obvious we will never see eye to eye on this, so let's put our different philosophies to the test."

"What do you have in mind?" she asked suspiciously. Krell set down his glass and slowly walked up to her.

"The five superpowers of Elora have already turned down the offer for annexation," Krell explained. "Under normal circumstances, I would have no choice but to use force, call upon a fleet and claim the planet for the empire. However, things are different now. Their reveal of their stargate will be…an opportunity. They are apparently revealing the stargate to their world today. I will go and gather my fleet but I will not attack. Starting tomorrow, they will have thirty days to unite the governments of this world. By the end of this, I will scan the entire planet. If they have succeeded, I will call off my fleet and use it to ensure no force beyond his planet will threaten it again."

"You're offering to protect it," Nova translated, surprised that Krell would make such an offer.

"If the planet succeeds in uniting, then yes. It will be their reward for being able to put aside their differences and come together. Normally, a simply united planet would not be enough. But, if they do succeed, I can make an exception."

"Awfully generous of you," Nova remarked. Krell smiled at this statement. There was one more thing he had to say.

"Our methods are different but our wishes are all the same," Krell said. "I have little doubt, though, that in the end, the Ror'char will have to save this planet from the hammer of destruction swung by their own hands. Tell the Amestrians of this. They must unite this planet, or it will be forced to unite under our rule."

-.-

The reveal meeting was going to take place in a circular conference room. A single balcony that lined the walls overlooked the meeting tables below and was the perfect place for the mob of reporters that hung over the rails like a child trying to get a closer look at the animals at the zoo. It was obvious something big was going to happen but they did not know what.

An army of security guards lined the sides. Security was already tighter than a pressure clamp but there could be no risks. The background checks on each and every reporter took what seemed like an eternity as they went in. Additional security guards were posted right outside the doors of their off-world visitors to make sure that they don't do anything fishy.

At the conference tables below was packed with almost two hundred representatives with their tidy and fancy suits. Corin and Martin sat on the couch in the quarters, watching the situation unfold on their television.

Nova was with Bronston, telling him about the development with Krell was they made their way down the hall. For him, the revelation was a relief. At least they weren't just going to be outright invaded. But, they still had the challenge of informing the world about the stargate. Nova broke off as they approached the conference room. The reporters in there wouldn't know she was an alien but she couldn't take any chances.

As she walked away, she could not help but wonder how Earth would reveal the stargate if they chose to. Would they call upon representatives from every country and tell them together? Would they simply announce it to their public and let the information seep into the foreign governments over time? But, the biggest question that hung in her mind was, how would Earth react? Martin was confident in humanity; he knew that Earth had problems but he felt that these problems could be put aside and that people could unite as one planet. Chen's faith in humanity might as well be zero; he saw humans as greedy and self serving and that the ones that choose not to be are simply used as tools, that people would become even more violent once they see the stargate and do whatever it takes so that they and they alone would reap the benefits. Nova was undecided. It go could go either way. She's never seen anything that would sway her opinion one way or the other. Only the events on Elora would affect her opinion.

-.-

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Bronston announced over the thundering voices of conversation. Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent as the noise receded like waves on a shore. The news reporters leaned even further over the rails. The government representatives took their seats. All eyes were on Bronston as he turned on the giant holographic monitor at the front.

"Thank you all for coming," Bronston said. "I'll admit that it feels overwhelming to seeing representatives from every country around the world in this room but we need the whole world for this. It is high time we did this. I come before you to reveal to not only you but the whole world of a device the Amestrian government has been using for the past several decades that allows instantaneous transportation to other planets called the stargate."

-.-

Krell was in his quarters, standing in front of his own holographic television watching the public reveal.

"Overlord," a distorted voice said over his radio. "The ships have reached the edge of the solar system."

"Hold your position," Krell ordered. "We have a deal to uphold."

Krell smiled he watched Bronston explain the stargate and their usage of it. The alien commander muttered humorously under his breath.

"All the cards have been dealt. All the pieces are now on the board. It is now the players who decide the outcome. Let us begin."


	2. Chapter 2

_How far should one go to end all conflict? How far should a society go to stop bad people? These thoughts plagued Professor Corin Nevec as he drove home. People held different opinions about this…at least people outside the Ror'char Empire. Inside, everyone held the exact same opinion about everything: the opinion they were told to have. The Ror'char told people what to believe and how to think. Was that really necessary? Are people so incapable of accepting each other's beliefs and opinions that they must be told what to believe and think to stop them from ripping each other apart?_

_Corin flipped on his radio in the hopes of getting his mind off of it. _

_"Police were called in to handle rioters yesterday as they continued their campaign of terror in the small town of Locksyale," a female radio host broadcasted. _

_Corin squeezed the steering wheel in anger. One thing he learned was to take all political news from the Ror'char with a grain of salt. Anyone who questioned the will of their leader and their laws were branded as psychotic, violent, even evil. Peaceful protests where people did nothing but sit in the grass with signs in their hands were branded as violent riots bringing terror to their towns. He had begun to feel sick about his job. As a teacher, his job was to tell students all about how great the Ror'char were. When he taught history, he had to label everyone who questioned Ror'char ruling as evil and violent. Now, every time he preached that propaganda, he felt like he was forcing himself to swallow soap._

_"Thanks to the swift action of the black-watch guards, the rioters have been moved to the reeducation camps and minimal damage was done to the neighborhoods." _

_There was a click as Corin changed station but this one wasn't any better._

_"A man was seen flying the Patriarch flag outside his house. As our listeners are aware, the Patriarchs have repeatedly voiced their disagreement with President Vosk's policies. The man was told that the flag was offensive to others and must either be removed or he will be arrested." _

_Corin flipped to another station, one that played music. He gave a slow sigh as he eyed the fuel station he was looking for. Carefully weaving through traffic past the sleek and shiny cars, Corin maneuvered his small vehicle beside one of the marble white fuel pumps. Driving from the university to his house wasn't that far a drive but he still felt like he had to stretch his legs. Walking up to the pump, Corin removed the fuel nozzle. He could feel the camera above his head staring at him to make sure he doesn't try to cheat the system. He opened the fuel port on the side of his car and slid the nozzle in. With a press of the button, his vehicle began refueling. _

_Corin headed inside the store. Maybe there was something he could buy. It was mid spring and the temperatures had begun to climb so the cool air inside the store was a relief. He didn't look at the facemask of the black-watch guard at the door as he walked inside. Corin didn't want to buy much. A simple refrigerated drink would be good enough. He picked up his drink and headed for the register. The store wasn't full per se but there were several people walking around and there were at a guy in line and Corin took the next spot behind him. Corin didn't' know how long he was going to wait but it might be a while. The person in front of him was getting rowdy with the cashier. _

_"I do not want a trouble, sir," the cashier said calmly. "But, I need to ask that you don't do that again." _

_"Look, it's none you're business what I do," the man in front snapped. _

_"You threw your cigarette stub on the store shelf and tossed the empty box into the-"_

_"Look! You just stay out of my way and let me live my life!" the man yelled. The fuss, the 'chaos' attracted the attention of the guard. Without a single word, the guard grabbed the man by the throat, his throat collapsing in the guard's hand like a straw. He gasped desperately for air, thrashing and kicking in a desperate attempt to get a breath. Feeling the subject resist, the guard slammed the man's head into the counter with a dull crack, the items that lined the counter jumping up into the air from the shockwave. The man fell to the ground limp, afraid that if he tried to get up the guard would interpret that as resistance. _

_The guard bent down and picked the man back up by the throat. Cold and unforgiving, the guard used his boot to rub the blood stain in a vain attempt to wipe away before dragging the man's limp body out the door._

_"Sorry 'bout that," the cashier said cheerfully as they heard a single loud thud and a pained cry coming from outside. "Some people just deserve to get hurt in the worst way possible."_

_"Yeah," Corin said, feigning a smile and a life. _

_"Like that riot of violent lunatics in Locksyale! Burn them all alive. Don't even bother reeducating them; just kill them and get them out of our society. Idiots." _

_"Well, you can't rid the galaxy of all the morons," Corin forced himself to say, taking his drink and scurrying out of the store. All he could do was pray Andrea wasn't anywhere near those protests. He knew that Andrea has been subtly voicing opposition against Ror'char absolute rule which would make her a target._

Corin thought about this as he watched the holographic TV screen.

"So it begins," he muttered.

-.-

**25 Days Until Judgment**

-.-

Corin laid back on the couch, setting aside the book he's been reading. Corin has been catching up on the history of Elora to better understand its politics. Out of the five of them, he was the only one who understood or even cared about the tiny details.

"First batch of food away!" Martin exclaimed triumphantly as he and Nova walked in through the door. Corin looked behind him. It was obvious how happy Martin was. Nova remained calm and composed but even she showed signs of enthusiasm.

"He said yes?" Corin asked, standing up.

"Chief Bronston originally said he wasn't going to trade until after the talks were done," Nova said. "But, I was able to convince him to send a shipment of food and a list of edible foods we can find on other planets."

"Didn't the blokes in the bio-dome say something about starting a green house?" Martin asked.

"Well, at least we won't have to trade or go off-world to get our food," Corin pointed out.

"General Mercer checked in yesterday," Nova added. "He said he might create an official hunting team for the expedition to get meat. He wanted to you if you were interested, Martin."

Martin looked up, unable to hide his excitement. He loved hunting. He remembered all the hunting trips he had on Earth all over the world.

Before any of them could say another word, the computer began beeping. Nova walked over and answered. The screen filled with static but then cleared as Chen's face appeared.

"You guys look happy," he remarked bluntly as the rest of Wolf Pack gathered around the computer.

"We managed to convince Chief Bronston to send over a shipment of food to Millennium," Nova explained.

"Well, that's some good news," Chen said. "Get this. The _Valorous_ is their first ship!"

"That's cool," Martin said in a rather unenthusiastic tone.

"Not really," Chen replied. "That means what they're showing us is their outdated stuff!"

"We'd do the exact same thing if it was Earth," Nova said empathetically. She understood how fragile forming an alliance is. The race you view as a potential ally could simply be a hostile race waiting to strike. If they just met an alien race interested in being allies they wouldn't give their new 'friends' a tour of Odyssey or Daedalus.

"Well, is there any other good news?" Chen asked, looking straight at Corin. It took a moment before Corin realized that Chen was actually asking about the status of the negotiations.

"I take it from the blank stare that there isn't any," Chen said. Nova and Martin both looked at Corin in interest.

"Corin?" Nova asked when it became obvious he didn't want to reply.

"There's been a few bumps," Corin said slowly.

"Bumps?" Chen repeated with a scoff. Corin opened his mouth but only sighed in frustration.

"The deal was to unite all the countries on the planet," Corin explained. "They've all agreed that the stargate should be moved to a neutral location where all the countries can send soldiers and scientists to participate. But, there's been a disagreement over what is and isn't a country."

"You're gonna need to be clearer than that, mate," Martin remarked, not wanting to have to listen to historical babble.

"There's a couple places that call themselves countries. Some countries think that these places are countries but others think they're just a rebellious state," Corin explained as clearly as he could think of.

"I know Earth also has this problem," Nova said. "There's always a question of whether or not a location is a country."

"But Earth didn't know about the stargate," Corin pointed out. "This is usually a conflict that takes decades to resolve. By revealing the stargate, we told them to solve it now. Whether or not it's a country will affect its usage of the stargate. I'm sure it's nothing; nothing that can't be solved with a few more rounds of negotiations."

Nova looked at Chen, satisfied with the answer.

"Continue working up there," Nova ordered. "General Mercer's going to check in on negotiations in an hour. Bronston said that, next week, he'll take us on a tour of the city. Maybe the faces of 'friendly aliens' might be reassuring to the public."

"Alright," Chen said gruffly. "I'll see you guys tonight then." There was a click as the monitor went black.

-.-

With the communications cut, Chen returned to looking at the shield schematics while Hailey worked with the engine schematics at a computer behind him. A handful of engineers walked by, continuing their duties.

"These engines are amazing!" Hailey remarked, flipping through the schematics. "The Elorans have designed multiple sublight engines units instead of twin engine modules which accelerate the ship quickly through space when working in conjunction but it also allows tight knit maneuvers when activated in a systematic sequence."

It was then Hailey realized that Chen was ignoring her.

"Chen, I know you can hear me," she said bluntly but Chen continued staring at monitor.

"Chen, taekwondo's overrated," she said, trying to push his buttons. But, Chen continued working, not reacting to what she said.

"Theoretical Astrophysics is an applicable real-world science," she called out. Chen looked over at another monitor as if to compare readings.

"Jay Felger's a brilliant scientist!" Hailey said. At that mention, Chen gave a twitch so violent he nearly fell of his chair. He immediately pulled himself up and straightened his uniform.

"I know you weren't serious so I'm going to forgive you for that one," he said gruffly, straightening himself out.

"People said you had a problem with him," Hailey chuckled with a smile.

"Yes, the _other_ person Carter personally recommended in her career," Chen remarked, returning to work. Hailey and Felger were the two people Carter recommended to work at the SGC.

"And you're here because of O'Neill," Hailey reminded him. O'Neill did not have the best name in the scientific community.

"You two still fighting?" Commander Galligan asked humorously as he walked in with a box in either hand. "You've been here for five days already and you two still can't get along."

"What's in the box?" Chen asked, trying to change the subject. Galligan set down one box and held the other in front of him.

"Took the liberty of stopping by the galley," he said, lifting the top off, revealing several platters of sandwiches and drinks. "Thought you might be hungry from working."

"Thanks!" Hailey said eagerly, going for a sandwich.

"What's in the other box?" Chen asked bluntly. Galligan opened the other container and pulled out a small device that fit in the palm of his hand.

"Technically, I'm still not supposed to show you weapons technology," he explained. "But, this isn't a weapon." Hailey stopped eating for a moment to take a look at the device.

"We use laser weaponry," Galligan explained. "Just about all our armaments use the same principle."

"You use a stimulated medium to release high energy level particles?" Hailey asked with interest. "You must introduce energy into the medium which releases particles in order to reach equilibrium."

Galligan just stared at her in confusion, not sure what to say. He didn't even understand what she said.

"She means, do your guns use some sort of medium that releases your particles of death," Chen translated.

"Can't say for sure," Galligan said with a shrug. "I just know we use laser lances."

"This looks like some sort of heat sink," Hailey suddenly exclaimed. "Laser weapons like that will generate enormous heat and this is what prevents the barrel from overheating."

"That's exactly what it is," Galligan said. "This is attached to all our weapons so we can repeatedly use them without it overheating."

"Imagine what we could do with this on our weapons," Chen said, taking a look at the contraption. One of the problems about firearms was how prone they are to overheating. Soldiers are taught to fire in bursts for accuracy, to conserve ammunition, and to make sure the barrel doesn't overheat after prolonged use.

"Didn't we bring a GAU-17?" Hailey asked, remembering they packed a minigun with them for gate defense.

"Doesn't have to be the GAU, we brought a lot of mounted weapons and they could all use something like this," Chen remarked.

"Commander Vikus Galligan," a voice suddenly said over the intercom. "President Amobo is reporting a problem. You're needed on the bridge."

"On my way," Galligan said loudly. Galligan smiled at the two of them. "Take care of yourselves. Apparently I'm needed elsewhere."

**20 Days Until Judgment**

The sleek black limo cruised down the street of the capital. Even during the day, the city was beautiful as light reflected off the towers, the windows looking like crystals in the light. Massive holographic advertisement flickered from the windows of several buildings. Jumbled masses of cars and other vehicles drove by.

"Quite a sight," Bronston remarked, glancing at the driver beside him. Corin, Martin, and Nova were in the back of the vehicle, staring at the buildings though the window.

"It does make you wonder," Nova said with a smile. "If our planet continues for another two hundred years will it look like this?" She looked at the roads suspiciously. She remembered flying over these streets over a week ago. There was something different now. People still bustled down the sidewalks. Cars raised in either direction down the street. But, there were more police vehicles than normal…a lot more.

"You say you're far from your home planet?" Bronston asked.

"Several million light years from home," Martin remarked.

"We're an expeditionary force," Nova explained. "We don't know if we can make it home. Militarily, we're fine and more than capable of fending ourselves but we still have a need for food."

"Once these talks are over, we can do a lot more than just food," Bronston said proudly.

"Chief Bronston," Corin suddenly said as something caught his eye. "Mind if we stop here?" Bronston gave a single nod.

"Pull over," he told the driver. The gleaming black vehicle found an open spot on the side of the road and pulled over. Nova and Martin took their time climbing out of the car but Corin practically flew out the door. It was in the middle of summer so the air outside was a lot hotter and more humid, the wall of heat hitting him like a wall of water.

Nova looked around, her eyes adjusting to the light. It take her long to realize what Corin was so excited for.

"A church?" she asked when she saw a large red brick building standing before her, massive ornate wooden doors sealed the entrance, polished marble statues lining the building. The door was also a rather odd shape, more in the shape of a mushroom.

"We call them vatriums," Bronston explained. "Elora has plenty of different religions all across the planet. Vatriums are just some of the religious buildings around here belonging to one of I don't know how many different faiths."

Corin began walking up the steps, taking in the sight. Whoever was in charge of this holy site took good care of the lawn and garden around it, a row of colorful flowers leading up to the front door.

"Mind if I take a peek inside?" Corin asked. He's only seen pictures of these buildings in books. He wanted to see what they looked like up close.

"I don't really go to vatrium," Bronston said. "I don't know if the monks will appreciate being barged in on."

Corin was going to protest. He wanted to see this building. Seeing and learning all about alien cultures and religions was exciting for him. He knew that a lot of civilizations had been affected by the presence of the Alliance but he never got a chance to go into detail about it. But, he never got the chance.

Corin didn't know what happened. He only knew that a wall of pressure shot out of the religious building and hit him in the back, sending him flying forward. It was as if the air had been ripped apart. His ears were ringing as he hit the ground, flaming bricks bouncing past. The world was rocking back and forth, teetering like it was trying to balance on a stick.

"Corin!"

Corin looked around wearily, trying to find who was calling him. Whoever it was sounded far away but he could be wrong because of how badly his ears were ringing.

"Corin!" Nova called, rushing up beside him. It was obvious he wasn't hurt; just dazed from the explosion. Nova looked up where the vatrium was standing a few moments ago. The explosion had rushed out of the building through any gap it could find and tearing apart whatever was in its way. The walls had collapsed, the wood supports ablaze. People all around them were panicking, fleeing from the scene. Cars immediately drove off full speed, slamming into other vehicles and even people who got in their way.

"Tour's over," Bronston said, helping Nova pick Corin up. "We're heading back to the ADH." As he slid a half conscious Corin into the car, he glanced back and watched as the massive masses of black smoke billowed into the sky.

-.-

_"This was just one of several terrorist attacks over the past week claiming several hundred lives in this short period of time. While many religious groups say the existence of the stargate does not affect their beliefs, others say that the mere concept is insulting. Many religious extremist groups have launched a campaign of attacks against on buildings and monuments of other religions as well as government infrastructures as well." _

_"This so called stargate is pure blasphemy, an attempt by the heretics to undermine our belief. But know this, our faith will not be shaken! Continue insulting us and this message will be the first of many." _

_"To compliment this, an equal number of anti-religious have taken arms." _

_"We all know that their ridiculous beliefs about miracles and higher powers is pure nonsense. If the stargate doesn't prove it to these indoctrinated idiots then they don't even deserve to live. We're doing society a favor; we're just saving the demolition crew time and money. And the people inside: having a couple less nuts on this planet will do it some good." _

_"I'm not religious by choice but blowing up buildings is not the answer. Say it yourself: blowing up buildings. Does that sound moral to you? You want to talk about not unleashing certain people on the galaxy? I don't want the galaxy to have to deal with people who would do this." _

_"I am ashamed to think that people who share my religious beliefs would resort to such brutality. I can spend an hour reciting religious texts to say why this is wrong, but I rather tell them to yank their heads out of their rears and see this themselves." _

Nova turned off the television, tired of seeing the same stories broadcasted on nearly every channel.

"You sure you're ok?" she asked Corin, who pressed a pack of ice against his head. He gave a nod and a thumbs up.

"Well, this went bad fast," Nova said, shaking her head. "Will this affect our deal with Krell?"

Corin shrugged.

"Right now the violence is from the people and not the governments," Corin said. "Krell only wanted the countries united. He might let this slide."

"Is he even trustworthy?" Martin asked suspiciously. He remembered the Goa'uld and Wraith would regularly break the deals they make and that was assuming the deal wasn't simply a front for another plan.

Corin hesitated to answer. He hated the Ror'char, he hated being a citizen of their empire. Saying anything that would put them under a good light made it feel like he swallowed a brick.

"If a Ror'char leader breaks his agreement, he loses his rep among the others," Corin explained, the familiar feeling of soap in his mouth coming back. "He'll try to find loopholes he can exploit but he won't break his deal."

"So the issue is making sure Elora stops blowing the piss out of itself," Martin said.

"Another question is," Nova pointed out. "Now that the public knows about the stargate, will this violence get better over time or will it just escalate?"

-.-

Hailey and Chen rushed to the bridge of the _Valorous_.

"Galligan," Chen said as he gazed around the grid of chairs and gleaming black panels that held the ship's controls. The massive display at the front showed the endless space in front of them, several other triangular ships drifting in orbit around the planet.

"Doctors," Galligan greeted, standing up from the captain's chair. "Welcome to the bridge."

"Commander, we need to talk," Chen said darkly.

"What is it?" Galligan asked, sensing his concern.

"Commander, we have reason to believe that the Ror'char fleet has arrived," Hailey explained. Galligan stared at her in shock.

"That's impossible," he said as the crew around him exchanged worried glances. "Our sensors aren't detecting anything."

"You're going to have to trust us on this," Hailey said in a lot friendlier tone. "Asgard ships were able to orbit our planet for years without being detected and the Ror'char use Alliance technology."

"Alliance?" Galligan repeated. "As in Alliance of Four Great Races?"

"And if the Asgard can hide their ships in plain sight, so can the Ror'char," Chen snapped. Galligan's jaw dropped, unsure what to say. They had grown a little too confident about their technology.

"What can we do about it?" he finally asked. Chen and Hailey both exchanged glances. They wanted to get a better look at Eloran ships but they wished it was under better circumstances.

"I've studied Asgard sensors from the data core they gave us," Hailey babbled. "I can make adjustments to the sensors to see if there are ships out there."

"I can program the computer to be compatible with the new input," Chen said.

Galligan didn't know what they said but it was clear they knew what they were doing.

"Do it then," he said. Chen and Hailey both rushed to one of the computer stations, working as fast as they could to make the proper adjustment.

-.-

**15 Days Until Judgment**

Corin rushed past the several hundred workers as the Amestrian Defense Headquarters. Everyone was panicked. But, Corin ignored the frightened faces of the crowd around him. He sprinted for the negotiation room, bursting through the ornate doors.

"Chief Bronston," Corin yelled, pushing past several people in the crowd. Bronston was at the talking to one of the fancy suited politicians in front of the empty conference table.

"Excuse me," the politician said, rather offended that Corin was interrupting them.

"Sorry, Mr. President," Bronston said with a bow. "This is Corin Nevec of Millennium."

Hearing that this was one of the aliens on their planet, the politician's demeanor completely changed.

"So you're one of our esteemed guests," he said with a smile.

"President Amobo," Corin said with a slight bow before turning back to Bronston. "Tell me it isn't true," he said. "Tell me the talks haven't stopped!" Bronston wished he could but he knew it was true.

"Several countries have withdrawn from the talks," Bronston said. "Upper and Lower Quaria have armed missiles aimed at each other; they once fought for control of the peninsula and while that war ended now they both want to take it back for themselves before coming back to the negotiations. Several countries are threatening to attack Amestris, saying we're trying to take over the world with the technology we acquired from the stargate. And, we just heard that Pavalin is preparing for a full scale invasion of Azral. They've been fighting for centuries. We hoped that this might've put an end to the violence."

Corin put his hand to his face and groaned in frustration.

"I don't understand why all this violence suddenly popped up," he stuttered. "I thought the stargate show people what really mattered."

"I hoped so too," Bronston sighed, his face actually sagging from the exhaustion of all the talks and negotiations. "But, it looks like every tension between countries and states have resurfaced and we told them all to resolve it as quickly as possible. Pavalin sees Azral as thieves and occupiers on their land and Azral sees Pavalin as terrorists invading them. Upper and Lower Quaria formed after a disagreement in government systems but both of them want the Quarian Peninsula for themselves. Upon that, every extremist group has kicked their efforts into high gear."

"Don't they know that the Ror'char will invade this planet if these talks don't work?!" Corin yelled. "If the planet unites the invasion will be called off. If you guys don't stop fighting, you aren't going to get a choice in anything."

"They won't listen," Bronston snarled. He understood Corin's frustration he was equally helpless. "This conflict over the land is why there's so much violence between them."

"Is that also why there's so much violence between Amestrian citizens too?" Corin demanded to know. "Anti-Azralin protestors attacked a pro-Azralin demonstration yesterday. A family that voiced support of Azral was found _hanged_ from a building! People are attacking each other for holding different beliefs. People are demanding you bomb Azral and Pavalin and end their conflict before the deadline is up."

"Who do you think should hold that land then?" Amobo asked calmly.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Corin said angrily. "It shouldn't matter what anyone thinks! You let people have their own opinions, they'll form different opinions! People shouldn't attack each other just because they believe something different."

Amobo smiled at this statement.

"I'm glad there are people who still believe this," he said. "I've been making speeches all week that we need to put aside our differences and unite."

"And people are also fighting each other for different things too," Corin said. "Your interview has put an even bigger schism in your own people!"

Amobo gave Corin an unamused glare, clearly offended by what he just said.

"I've been telling the Amestrian people to unite, to see what's really important and work together!"

"Yet, in an interview, you blamed the violence all across your country on the opposite party," Corin snapped. "You said that they're promoting the usage violence, that if the Ror'char attack because Elora was unable to unite it would be their fault. Do you truly believe what you are telling people?"

Amobo immediately went to defense, taken back by what Corin was saying.

"Everyone knows that their basic policy is motivated by racial prejudice and a passion for violence," Amobo argued.

"Spare me the political propaganda," Corin suddenly yelled, Amobo's bodyguards almost instantly getting ready to protect the president. "You say that people should work together, then you brand the people who disagree with your policies as violent and dangerous. I'm not an Amestrian citizen. I'm not even an Eloran citizen! I'm never going be a part of your elections. Just answer my question honestly: do you really believe what you're telling people?"

Amobo glared at Corin, his face turning red with anger from Corin's accusations.

"Does it really matter?" the president finally asked as calmly as he could. Corin felt liked an anvil was dropped on his head. "If Elora is going to start expanding to other planets, we can't let them spread those ideals."

"Here we are trying to unite a planet," Corin said with a stifled laugh. "And you're trying to break apart your own country."

-.-

Corin returned to the room, every ounce of energy drained. He practically collapsed on the couch, putting his hand on his face in frustration. It was a lost cause but he flicked on the television with some desperate hope of hearing good news.

_"There have been protests all across Amestris. Many feel that while Elora's current situation is stable, the president's administration and its usage of the stargate has brought the planet close to destruction a few too many times. However, protests in the capital city met an abrupt end when a man drove his car through the demonstrators. An estimated ten were killed and another thirteen have been sent to the hospital. The driver was promptly arrested but we did get a few words before he was taken away." _

_"They freakin deserve it! I did the galaxy a favor! Can you imagine what would happen if they got to use that stargate thing?!" This is proof Elora isn't ready to know about the stargate; we have lunatics like them running around!"_

Corin turned off the television and looked away. He had prayed the planet could unite with the knowledge of the stargate. Luckily, his thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of the computer. He walked up to it, one step away from just curling up on the floor and sleeping.

"Corin?" Chen called as his faced appeared on the monitor. "Corin…you look like crap."

"What is it, Steven?" Corin asked. Chen glanced behind him as if to make sure something was still working.

"By tweaking with their ship's sensors, we were able to detect the Ror'char fleet," Chen said.

"Flotilla," Hailey called from the back.

"Whatever!" Chen called back before refocusing on the camera.

"How many ships?" Corin asked, adrenaline flowing into his blood, waking him back up.

"Seven," Galligan said, shoving himself into camera view. "Six small ones and one big one. Seven ships versus our seventeen."

"Don't get too cocky," Corin warned. "With their technology, only a handful of Ror'char ships or soldiers can slaughter larger forces."

"Their ships are tiny," Galligan laughed. "Six of them are only about a hundred fifty meters in length; our ships are five hundred."

Corin took a moment to think about this.

"Sounds like one of their frigates," he said, thinking about the textbooks that talked about historical battles between the Ror'char factions. "They're the most common ships the Ror'char use. Just about every battle and action the books talk about have frigates in it."

"Well, the last one isn't small," Chen said. "It's some sort of saucer and it's measuring one and a half kilometers in diameter."

"Sounds like a vidact," Corin said. "One ship that can act in the stead of an entire fleet. The books I taught didn't mention them in it very often but they always left a mark when they were."

"And the only one we have to worry about," Galligan added.

"NO!" Corin said loudly. "Don't start underestimating the Ror'char fleet. If Elora doesn't stop fighting itself then those ships WILL attack."

"Why only seven though?" Chen asked. "I thought you said the Ror'char had hundreds of ships."

"The Ror'char are more concerned about their civil war. They do have hundreds of ships but most of them are sent to fight the other factions. They can only spare a few ships to do other things. Still, even one ship is dangerous."

Hailey finally walked over, interested in what they were talking about.

"What about on the ground?" Galligan asked. "How will our troops do against theirs?"

"No offense, but your troops aren't going to last long against Ror'char troopers," Chen said flatly.

"The biggest thing is their armor," Hailey broke in. "I've been studying their armor. It's designed to give the wearer maximum mobility and protection.

"To put it in _comprehensible_ terms: it hardens when it detects a certain level of energy," Chen explained, cutting Hailey off before she could go into any scientific babble. "Slow moving things like swords or arrows won't activate the armor but our bullets and energy weapons will."

"What, I have arm my troops with crossbows?" Galligan scoffed, stunned by what he was hearing. "Besides, our weapons are capable of going through armor."

"Not Ror'char armor," Hailey said. "If the armor activates, it actually absorbs a portion of the weapon fire's energy and uses it to further strengthen the armor; its protective capability is directly proportional to the amount of energy being directed at it. While its energy absorption capability is not infallible it will reduce the effectiveness of any weapon."

Galligan gave Hailey the same confused stare.

"She means the harder you hit it the stronger it becomes," Chen clarified. "Once that armor activates, all weapons are equally ineffective; you have to hit them with about three, four, I've seen even five times as many shots then usual. The only ones that aren't are explosives, which has so much power it just overwhelms the armor, and Ror'char weapons."

"Wait, why do only Ror'char weapons work?" Galligan asked.

"'Cause it's technically an explosive weapon." Chen said. "Skipping the technical terms, on intermediate yield it's the power of a grenade directed into an area the size of your palm. We suspect all Ror'char weapons use some sort of gimmick like this to penetrate their armor."

Galligan took a moment to think about what he heard.

"What about you?" he asked. "You've dealt with the Ror'char." Chen wanted to slap his own face when he heard this.

"We avoid fighting the Ror'char; we spend most of the time running and hiding from them."

"And when we do fight them," Hailey added. "We use a combination of their own technology and a tactical advantage: ambush, superior numbers."

"You can't stand up against the Ror'char," Corin finished. "Elora's only hope is to actually stand together. We have to stop the fighting."

-.-

**7 Days Until Judgment**

Krell stared out the window of his quarters. Smoke was rising from the city as an army of law enforcement just to calm the raging crowd. Buildings were burning from the riots from tiny fires started atop small shops to massive blazes that are out of control.

"Get your gear," he told his two guards who stood near the doorway. As they left to grab their equipment, the radio on Krell's wrist came to life.

"Major Nova has returned to see you," a voice said.

"Send her in," Krell ordered. There was a gentle click as the doors opened and Terra Nova stepped inside. She glanced around the room, somewhat surprised that there wasn't a large squad of troopers getting ready to attack. Her attention was caught by the two Ror'char troopers exiting the back room, their ion rifles hanging off their hips like swords, its grip facing upward so it could be drawn more easily.

"Major," Krell greeted as he stood up, getting ready for departure. "Have you heard? Two of the planet's superpowers have just turned on Amestris; these were the original countries Amestris chose to reveal the existence of the stargate to. Their different ideologies created different ideas on how to resolve the conflicts between other countries and states and now Prussica and Shin-sa have both withdrawn from the negotiation table and are considering to help Upper Quaria take the whole peninsula with a complete bombing of Lower Quaria. They might try to speed up the process with the usage of nuclear weapons, but we'll have to wait and see. The stargate: what was supposed to unite the planet may be the catalyst for a nuclear war that'll destroy it."

"Krell, I'm not here to discuss politics," Nova said bluntly. "I've come to try to convince you to call off the invasion."

"Are you going against our original agreement?" Krell asked curiously.

"You know I couldn't do that," Nova answered. "If you decided to attack, there's no way I could stop you. I only want to try to convince you not to."

Krell gave an amused scoff as the massive antenok guard walked in.

"The stargate is a lot of things," Nova said. "But, it can be what brings people together. Yes, there's going to be violence and hard times until then, but people can unite. Now that they know there's an entire galaxy of benefits for them to reap, they can come together to amazing things if you let them."

Krell stared at her from the corner of his eye. He rolled up the sleeve to his black trench coat and slowly slid off the gauntlet on his left hand.

"Or tear each other apart," Krell said, revealing, to Nova's surprise, a mechanical left hand. His right hand gestured to not only his prosthetic hand but his entire left arm. Nova knew what it meant: something happened and Krell lost his entire left arm. "You see," Krell hissed, pacing around Nova. "Ever since I was a child, I knew what it mean to live in fear. The tyrannical government I was born into executed my parents for questioning their decisions and their inept decisions lead to a famine that claimed the life of my two brothers. A neighboring nation eventually overthrew the ruler and replaced it with a democracy. Then, I lost my friends and my arm as criminals ran rampant. I watched as politicians and leaders took advantage of these incidents to simply gain and keep their power. It wasn't until the Ror'char took over the planet did I understand what it took to achieve peace."

Krell walked up to the windows and stared at the smoke clouds rising into the sky. He reattached his gauntlet and slid his sleeve back down.

"So long as people are given the ability to choose, they will choose violence," he said, folding his hands behind his back. "They cannot make these decisions themselves and the stargate will not help resolve their conflict. We must tell them what to do, what to believe, and what to think. Elora is a perfect example of what will happen if we don't." Krell turned around to look at Nova one more time.

"Seven days," he said as the troopers carried several stacks of crates into the room. "This planet has seven days to choose to put aside their petty differences or we will force them."

Without another word, there was a brilliant flash of green light that engulfed Krell and his men and they were gone.

"Asgard transporter," Nova muttered. Krell had simply left. Time was running out.

**Judgment Day**

Amestrian Defense Headquarters was abuzz. All sorts of negotiators, ambassadors, and anyone who could talk were brought in in a desperate attempt to bring everyone back to the negotiating table. A control center in the ADH was the busiest. The hundreds of screens that lined the walls were all full. Some of them broadcasted the news which showed hordes of rioters tearing and burning down buildings, ironically angry that other countries were fighting even after learning about the stargate. Others showed the complete economic plunge that has resulted of the violence. Some screens even held the faces of foreign ambassadors and representatives while an Amestrian ambassador pleaded them to stop fighting and return to the negotiating table.

"Mr. Ambassador, I am begging you to advise your leader to call off your forces."

"I am sorry, but we are about to be attacked by five neighboring countries. We cannot call down or forces or we will be slaughtered. I'm afraid we can't return to the table either unless this threat has ended. You're begging me to end this conflict, but you can end this as well."

"We are not using any of the technology we procured to affect the balance of power!"

"Then I'm afraid this conversation is over."

-.-

"We're supposed to be trying to end the fighting, not help it!"

"Upper Quaria is going to attack Lower Quaria no matter what. We obviously can't stop the fighting; we can only make the victor come out sooner. The sooner Upper Quaria has retaken its peninsula the sooner the fighting will end."

"Last time Upper and Lower Quaria went to war and your nation supported Upper Quaria, Amestris supported Lower Quaria and we entered a Cold War that could've destroyed our planet. PLEASE don't let history repeat itself."

"Easy way to do that: don't help Lower Quaria. Let Upper Quaria take the peninsula and Elora will have one less war to worry about."

Bronston hung his head in defeat. Martin watched as everything seemed to spiral out of control around him. Everyone was at each other's throats. This was the day they had to finish uniting the planet or be invaded.

"Is there anything left that we can do?" Martin asked. Bronston just shook his head. His planet, his home, was about to be attacked because people could not put aside their differences.

"Only two other superpowers are standing with Amestris," he said. "The president is actually considering using a quarium nuke to get everyone back to the table."

Martin's eyes widened in horror when he heard this. Caldwell 70 didn't have any naquadah. Instead, the Ancients used quarium to build its stargates and, like naquadah, it could make horrifying weapons of mass destruction.

"This planet's already buggered!" Martin yelled. "How does nuking it help?!"

"People are hoping that if we threaten to drop quarium bombs they would return to the table and _maybe_ we can convince the Ror'char we're about to stop fighting," Bronston said.

"Or, they could first destroy Amestris then go back to fighting," Martin said. "If you want to use a quarium bomb, use it on the Ror'char."

"That would not be very pleasant, Lieutenant Martin," a voice hissed. Everyone in the room whipped around, startled by the sudden voice. The ambassadors on the screens around the room looked up in shock and horror. Standing in the middle of the chamber, watching the chaos unfold, was Exodan Krell.

Chief Bronston walked up to the hologram of Krell.

"Your time is up," Krell hissed. "You've had thirty days to bring this planet together…and you have failed."

"Thirty days wasn't enough time!" Bronston begged. "We need more time to find a solution to all the conflicts."

"Look around; I could give you a decade and your planet still won't come together," Krell chuckled in amusement.

"We can still do this, mate," Martin said, stepping forward. "It may be chaotic now but it's just the first step to peace."

Krell stared at Martin, not convinced by this.

"You have until my ships arrive," Krell announced to everyone. "Once in orbit, they will perform one last scan of the planet. If you still haven't united the planet by then, we will accept nothing but complete and unconditional surrender."

Krell's image began to distort as the hologram faded away.

-.-

"They're on the move!" a technician aboard the _Valorous_ announced as he read his scans. "Ror'char ships have just entered hyperspace."

Everyone on the _Valorous_ was dead silent. They all knew that this meant. The invasion was on its way.

"Tell all ships to enter high alert!" Galligan ordered. "Have shields and weapons on standby. The moment those ships exit hyperspace we give them everything we got."

Chen clicked on the communicator in the control panel in front of him.

"Terra, you get this?" he asked.

"I heard that," Nova said as she and Corin quickly packed their stuff in their quarters. "I've already told Martin to get a ride to the spaceport and gate back to Millennium. I want you and Major Hailey to ring down and head back. We'll be right behind you."

There was a click as Chen ended communications.

"Patch me through to the ship," Commander Galligan ordered, walking up to the front. The technicians nodded and quickly obeyed. Galligan turned and faced the entire bridge, the intercom for the whole ship turned on. He looked at his crewmates and friends one last time.

"This is Commander Galligan. It has been confirmed: the Ror'char are on their way here. Elora has come a long way since we first uncovered the stargate. This planet has seen its fair share of history and this ship has seen its fair share of battle. But, if this is the _Valorous_' last battle, then we will carve its success into stone so that all historians will look back upon this moment and remember how this ship and crew stood up against the forces of the universe, that if we were to be struck down we will break every bone in the hand that does it, that our last stand will burn a memory that shall be remembered forever."

-.-

Nova and Corin were geared up and ready to leave. They were looking out across the city from their quarters one last time. It was once quite a beautiful sight. Now, it was scorched with fire and streaked with ash and washed with blood.

"C'mon," Nova said, turning to leave. She was surprised to see Chief Bronston at the door.

"Leaving?" Bronston asked, his frustration and exhaustion obvious on his face. "Lieutenant Martin has already been transported to the _Valorous_. They'll send you to stargate headquarters where you can gate home."

Bronston hung his head. Nova wasn't sure if it was because of the imminent invasion or how their planet reacted to the knowledge of the stargate. Maybe even both.

"It isn't too late to evacuate," Nova said. "Get people off-world, start over if things don't go well here."

"Things won't go well here," Bronston said. "We called an emergency meeting for all the countries around the world to try to mount a defense. Only two are going to show up. This is going to be it for Elora. I'm going to try one last time to get the leaders of the planet to listen."

"TERRA!" a voice suddenly yelled through her radio.

"What's up, Chen?" she asked.

"OUR TIME!" Chen yelled. A cold chill of fear crawled down her spine as she, Corin, and Bronston all exchanged fearful glances. The room began to shake, the glass rattling as if the whole planet was trembling in fear. Nova and Corin walked to the rattling window, looking through the shaking glass.

"My god," Nova breathed as she stared at the black clouds that hung over the city. The clouds then parted like curtains to a horror movie as enormous towers emerged, four spindly legs unfolding and extending forth as the ships landed.

"MOVE!" Nova yelled as she and Corin turned and ran from the window. It was just in time. A massive beam of green light shot out of the side of the ship and combed across the city like a search light, a massive explosion bursting out of the area the light had just shone over. Another beam of light shot out and tore across the buildings, including the one Nova and Corin were in.

A massive wall of fire surged from the window, the pressure launching forward everything that wasn't anchored including the couch. Corin and Nova were thrown to the ground as the couch flew over their heads, the shockwave making their ears ring as everything went to black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Last chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.  
**

-.-

_Corin's house was only an hour's drive from the gate port so it didn't take long for him to get back. Having a stargate did wonders for colonization. Usually, towns wouldn't risk being far from society or it meant seclusion. With the stargate, they could have only one town on every planet and not have a problem. That was exactly what Corin's town was, the only one on the planet. It didn't matter though. Cities and other civilizations were just a walk through a giant ring. But, that didn't mean his little corner of the galaxy was safe. _

_Corin's face turned pale when he saw black-watch trucks patrolling the streets. Black-watch guards patrolled up and down the streets, way more than there should be. That meant that they had arrested someone for treason. For a normal civilization, that would be a horrible thing. But, in a Ror'char sovereignty, a person could be arrested for treason just by questioning the policies of the president. Someone voicing his opposition probably got caught. The town was fairly large and it could've been anyone. But, Corin knew one person who was very vocal about her opposing views. _

_Corin sped up his driveway. He didn't even bother grabbing his suitcase or bag as he sprinted up the steps to the front door. _

_"Andrea!" he shouted in panic as he burst into his house. Andrea was visiting for the week and was going to stay in his home while he was away. But, he knew how vocal she was in her opposition to the Ror'char government. _

_"Andrea!" he yelled against as he took off upstairs. He burst through the door to his bed room and nearly crashed headfirst into a beautiful young woman coming out of the back. _

_"Corin?" Andrea asked in surprise when she saw his worried and utterly exasperated face. "You alright?" _

_Corin stared at her, stunned that she could ask such a thing. He practically collapsed on his bed in exhaustion. _

_"Corin," she said, gently sitting down beside him. "You ok?" Corin sat up and looked at her, not sure what to say or feel. Should he feel relieved that she wasn't taken? Should he feel angry that she would insist on doing something that would put her life in danger? _

_"Have you looked outside?" he asked. Andrea solemnly nodded. _

_"People were cheering," she said. _

_"What?" _

_"People were cheering that Guman was taken away," she explained. "Doesn't that upset you? They condemn someone for just holding a different belief than them!" _

_"Of course," Corin snapped. "But, this isn't just the Ror'char." _

_"Are you saying that other planets, nations, countries, they also demonize people who simply believe in something different?! The sign of a corrupt government is one that will demonize its opponents simply for having a differing opinion. We live in a society where we are told what to believe. I refuse to think that other civilizations would squander their freedom by hurting people who simply believe different." _

_"Doesn't matter because we can't do anything about it!" Corin snapped. "Andrea, if the Ror'char find out…if the other people…if…" Corin broke off. The Ror'char government wasn't the only thing that would come after her if they found out that she believed in something different. _

_Andrea put a comforting hand on his shoulder. _

_"They won't find out," she said. She held out an empty ring box. "You said it was a promise for once this semester was over. Let me make you this promise, nothing is going to stand between us. Will you trust me, Corin?" _

_Corin Nevec didn't answer as he stared at the empty box. He still kept the wedding ring in his pocket. He had to wait for the school semester to end before he could do anything. _

_"Corin?" Andrea asked again._

"Corin," Nova shouted. Corin Nevec's eyes opened as he took in a lung full of air. The moment he breathed in he began chocking as dust filled his mouth and throat. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a slab of metal right in front of his face.

"Corin!" Nova shouted as she began to dig into the pile of debris that was atop of him. As the last of the rubble was removed, Corin Nevec tried to stand up and look around but realized that everything around him was blurred from the smoke that covered the room.

"What happened he asked," completely dazed as Nova handed out the weapons they had put away. He blinked several times to get used to the smog around the room

"Some sort of landing craft," Nova said as she stared out the shattered window. A thick blanket of smoke and dust covered the entire city. Though the gray haze she could see the figures of massive towers striding across the city on comparatively spindly legs. She remembered that these walking towers were actually ships that landed. Beam of green light combed the city with a lout whine. Many times the beam of light carved a path of flaming destruction while other times it passed over without any incident. "They're using an Asgard transport beam to deploy troops and attack." Nova remembered reading reports of the first encounters with the Asgard and how they transported things in great beams of light. These same beams were also causing the destruction. She could only guess that the ships were beaming some sort of unstable material that exploded on contact the moment it materialized. This single beam was used to both deploy troops and lay waste to the city.

Corin stared at the destruction before him.

"I thought they could do it," he said blankly. "They knew about the stargate, they knew that there was to the galaxy, and they still wanted to fight each other."

"We were wrong about what the stargate would do if it became public," she said. "We thought it would tell the planet to put aside their differences. Instead, it brought up every conflict in the planet's history and said to resolve it immediately."

"It is the nature of sentient beings to attack those who are different," Corin recited. "Whether it is difference in color or simply different in opinion, that which does not belong is must be neutralized. They will engulf themselves in chaos to pursue this goal; they will blame their faults upon others so they will not have to take chnage. We acknowledge that they will never overcome their flaws and differences. We will make the decisions that they have proven themselves incapable of making; we will descend upon them, one last act of evil and chaos to end it forever."

Nova looked at Corin in confusion.

"It's the Ror'char mandate," Corin explained. "When I was a teacher, I was supposed to recite it for the students every morning. If Elora was able to actually unitfy with the stargate, it would've proven that mandate wrong."

"They weren't ready for it now," Nova said. "It doesn't mean they would never be ready for it."

"What about your planet?" Corin asked. "Do you think Earth is ready to learn about the stargate? Or will they act the same way as the Elorans?" He remembered even before the Ror'char invaded, the planet was already in flames. Small skirmishes turned into wide spread chaos. Protests turned into riots and mobs. Countries that were supposed to unite went to destroy enemies they never got the chance to before it was too late. Would Earth do the same?

Nova didn't answer. She turned around and examined the devastated room.

"Bronston!" she shouted when she saw Bronston pinned under a broken ceiling beam. She rushed over but froze as she neared him. The mangled metal at the end of the ceiling beam had twisted into a sharp point that curved down like a talon that punched straight through Bronston's limp body.

Nova reached up and gently closed his eyes.

"He introduced himself as Chief Bronston," she said. "Did we ever learn his first name?"

Corin took a moment to think about it. Nova was right. He never told them his first name and now they'll never know.

"We better get out of here," Corin said as the ground below them rumbled.

-.-

Chen struggled to keep balance as the _Valorous_ rocked with every explosion. The sparks raining on him stung his neck. Hailey had been thrown to the ground from the initial explosion and was fighting to stand back up.

"Status report!" Galligan yelled as a pipe above his head blew open.

"The fleet opened fire on the first ship that came out of hyperspace!" a helmsman yelled. "We were able to destroy it before it could raise shields."

"That's one frigate down, five more and the vidact left!" Chen yelled as he pulled Hailey to her feet.

"Hull breaches on multiple decks and we're venting atmosphere," another helmsman read.

"How'd we lose shields that quick?!" Galligan demanded to know. The helmsman looked at his control panel and his eyes widened in shock.

"We didn't," he stuttered in confusion.

Hailey looked at the front screen of the ship, watching the fighting unfold. It was almost a stunning sight to watch the small frigates tear into the Eloran ships which were three times their size with a flurry of green energy bolts.

"Chen," she yelled as a dread realization hit her like an anvil. "Are those drones?!" Chen stared out the front of the ship, watching the streams of green weapons fire. The shots were so close together that it was hard to distinguish each individual bolt. But, he then realized that she was right. The bolts being fired were Ancient drones. The squid-shaped projectiles were a lot smaller and were being fired like bullets instead of swarms of missiles but they still had their ability to punch through shields like they were nothing. He watched as the shields around the Eloran shields activated in a feeble attempt to block the shots as they passed through the shields like they were nothing. It was only because of how big the Eloran ships were that they were still intact.

"Our fighters have engaged Ror'char strykers," the helmsman announced. On the screen in front of them, swarms of fighters veered through swarms of strykers. Violent flashes from the exploding ships lit up the scene in front of them like fireworks.

"Commander, we're detecting an energy build up in two of the frigates," a technician yelled from the back.

"Why?!" Galligan demanded to know.

The answer soon became apparent as massive green beams of energy launched out of the two frigates' forward cannon. The beams of energy hit a nearby ship, its shields trying to hold back the hit but it wasn't strong enough. The beam broke through and tore into the ship's hull. The second beam followed, flames and debris spewing from the open wound like a volcano. Battered and broken, the ship began to shake apart, different fragments floating gently floating off in different directions, nothing but hollow shells and memories of what they used to be.

Chen stared ahead in horror. He's seen all these weapons before. He's seen 304's use beam weapons given from the Asgard. He's seen Ancient drones. The weapons that were once used by these majestic, almost angelic, races had been taken, perverted, and used by the Ror'char for their own needs.

"Commander, we're picking up a transmission coming in from the surface."

"Put it on speaker!"

Hailey grabbed the edge of a control panel as the ship rocked again. Another Eloran ship had exploded, releasing a shockwave that rattled everything around it.

"This is Flight Lieutenant Charles Martin, does anyone read me?" a familiar voice broadcasted over the speaker.

"Can we answer back?" Chen asked as more sparks rained from the ceiling. The smell of burning metal began to fill the air as smoke seeped out of the ventilation ducts.

"Com's on," the helmsman said.

"Hey, Charles," Chen called out.

"Chen?" Martin asked in surprise. "Good to hear your voice, mate."

"I thought Nova told you to ring aboard the _Valorous_."

"Got cut off," Martin explained, his transmission becoming more and more garbled with each second. "Ror'char hit down here pretty hard. I'm guessing these landing crafts were stored in some sort of hangar on that big ship we talked about. Don't know how we're going to make it back to the gate."

Galligan stared at Chen and Hailey when he heard this. He looked at the battle raging before him as an Eloran ship tried to fly away, smoke and flaming debris leaking from its open wounds.

"You say you're fighting the Ror'char?" Galligan asked.

"We are," Hailey said. Galligan looked back at the battle, small pieces of debris bouncing off the front of the ship.

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered.

-.-

Nova and Corin snuck through the ruins of the building, trying to reach the streets. Entire rooms had collapsed, piles of concrete and metal blocking hallways. Stairwells were ripped to shred, covered in glass and bodies. Even more bodies littered the bottom floor of the building. The sounds of battle carried through the air, gunfire from every corner of the city.

The wind gently breezed through the building, carrying scraps of litter with it. Corin watched as a crumpled piece of paper tumbled past his feet. The paper had a picture of the stargate on it with the words 'government lies' typed in large bold letters at the top. Written over it in large red letters was the phrase 'die in a hole moron'. Obviously someone didn't buy the stories about the stargate and someone else was cursing him for it. Corin just shook his head. They felt their problems were so big that they kept fighting. The stargate wasn't enough to tell the planet how insignificant their problems were; only the Ror'char invasion was.

Nova remembered this once majestic chamber. She remembered walking through it while negotiating with the Elorans. Now, it was covered and ash and run down, a husk of what it used to be.

"We're heading for the ring room," she told Corin as they finally made it down a flight of stairs that was actually intact. "If we ring aboard one of the ships in orbit, they can take us to the stargate."

"But they're in the middle of a fight," Corin pointed out, remembering that the Ror'char ships had also arrived in orbit. "They might not want to."

"Our only other option is to stay here," Nova said. "If we do that, the Ror'char will find us."

"Do we even-" Corin began to say but Nova immediately gave him a harsh hush. She froze in her tracks and stared at the door.

"Hide," she hissed. They both dove behind the collapsed column in front of them. She cautiously peeked over the strewn rubble. Sand and gravel shifted as the door to the building opened and a single Ror'char trooper stepped in.

This was the regular Ror'char trooper with his black suit of armor and helmet but the weapon in his hand wasn't the usual ion rifle. It was shorter with a set of rails running across the top of it.

"Area secure," the troopers said through the radio on his arm, the hollow demonic voice generated by the helmet carried across the room.

"Check the wounded," a voice answered through the radio, but this one was different. It wasn't the deep hollow voice the troopers had. This one had a distinct snake-like hiss to it. "No survivors."

"Affirmative," the trooper replied, raising his weapon.

Nova looked at the P90 in her hand. It was only one trooper but even one has proven tough to kill. She pulled out her berretta sidearm. If she decided to take the trooper on she would need the extra firepower but even this might not be enough.

The trooper slowly walked across the devastation, kicking the bodies to make sure they weren't alive.

Nova knew it was only a matter of time before the trooper would accidentally discover them. They brought a couple of guns in case of defense but they didn't think they would need to bring grenades. She picked up a rock, ready to toss it to the staircase. It was a feeble distraction but it was all she could do. She could feel the sweat trickle down her cheek, her vision narrowing as the adrenaline kicked into her veins.

At that moment, a bolt of blue energy streaked overhead, hitting the trooper square in the chest. The Ror'char soldier gave a grunt of pain as a cloud of smoke exploded from the area of impact, his upper body vanishing behind the haze.

An Amestrian soldier was standing in the stairwell, his laser lance armed and ready. This was the type of weapon that would normally put a person down in one shot. But, the trooper was more resilient than any normal adversary. He stood back up, waving away the smoke in his face before opening fire, spraying at the guard with blue bullets of energy. The Amestrian soldier didn't get the chance to shoot again as the shots rattled his body, smoke and powder flying off his mechanical suit of armor as his body violently twitched with each shot. He gave a single dying scream as he collapsed, his body rolling down the steps.

Nova took this opportunity to emerge out of cover and open fire, the bangs of her guns roaring so loudly it sounded like the whole building would collapse from it. The trooper was caught completely off guard, the bullets tearing into the armor that was already weakened by the previous shot. Dust and sparks were thrown up by any bullets that missed, surrounding the Ror'char soldier in a brown cloud. He gave a roar of pain, shooting wildly at the two, before collapsing.

Nova immediately ran up to the body and pressed the barrel of her P90 into the wound, ready to shoot if the trooper was still alive. She gave a sigh of relief when it was obvious the trooper was dead.

Corin ran to the Amestrian soldier. As Corin approached the body, he realized it was too late. The soldier was already dead. Corin just hung his head, almost guilty that he couldn't save the man.

He eyed the holes in the armor where the weapons fire hit. The wounds weren't charred or damaged in any ways. It was as if the area that was hit was simply missing.

Corin had never seen the weapon on Dakara. He was not used to weapons that were capable of deconstructing matter into its most basic components. He was even more unfamiliar with any gun that could do this, each shot violently ripping matter into its basic parts, leaving nothing but gaping holes. It was a gun that literally ripped pieces out of its target.

"Gaba-5, do you copy?" a voice hissed through the radio on the Ror'char trooper's arm. "We have lost contact with gaba-5."

"This is rogue-6, I am moving in to investigate."

"Confirmed. All rogues, converge on gaba-6's last known location."

Nova looked at Corin when she heard this.

"We better pick up the pace," she said, grabbing the Ror'char gun. "We're going to have Ror'char troopers here any moment." She quickly searched through the trooper's pockets, taking out the handle to his buzz sword and a rather large three-barreled pistol.

She looked at the Ror'char automatic weapon. It was roughly the same size of her P90 but felt a lot lighter. She holstered her sidearm so she could hold the Ror'char weapon in her other hand. She tossed the handle and the Ror'char pistol toward Corin.

"Take it," she said. "We need every advantage we can get." Corin just gawked at the two weapons she gave him. He could barely handle the Earth projectile weapons. Now she wanted him to be able to handle Ror'char weapons. Corin just quickly stuffed the two in his pockets, not sure what else to do with them.

"Come on," she said, walking toward the hall. She stopped in her tracks, eyes widening in fear, when a Ror'char trooper appeared from behind the corner. He had attached his buzz sword to his ion rifle and was using it like a bayonet. At the end of that bayonet was an Amestrian soldier, impaled by the gun-mounted sword.

Corin's mouth opened but he mustered enough self-control to stop himself from giving a shock of surprise. Nova raised both her weapons, P90 and Ror'char automatic weapon but managed to stop herself from shooting.

They both began backing up from the scene. They went to run down the hall on the other side of the room but they froze when they saw shadows being cast by someone down the hall.

"This is rogue-2, we are converging on gaba-5's last known location," a hollow demonic voice echoed through the corridor before them.

"This is rogue-6," the trooper behind them said coldly, staring at the Amestrian soldier he had impaled. "I'll be with you in a moment."

Nova and Corin looked found themselves back against the wall. They were trapped. They would have no choice but to fight.

"Oi," a voice hissed quietly from above. They both looked up. The voice was coming from a broken vent shaft in the wall, completely unnoticed amongst the carnage.

"Go," Nova whispered to Corin. Nevec quickly jumped up and crawled into the vent. Nova glanced back at the Ror'char trooper. He pulled out his bayonet and slashed at the Amestrian soldier's throat. The vibrating molecules on the blade spun like chainsaw teeth, shredding the molecules in front of it. The blade cleaved through the armor's helmet and through flesh and bone with next to no resistance. There was a loud clank as the Amestrian soldier's helmet hit the ground and a thud as his head followed.

Nova jumped up and pulled herself into the vent as the Ror'char trooper kicked the dead body in front of him out of the way.

"Martin," she breathed in surprise when she saw Charles Martin's face in front of her. Martin put his finger to his lip to tell her to stay quiet. She pulled herself deeper into the vent to make sure she couldn't be seen.

"This is rogue-6, all troops be on alert. Gaba-5 is missing his storm rifle, buzz sword, and carnifex. Enemy forces may be use our own technology against us."

Nova instinctively looked at the weapons she took. The automatic weapon she grabbed must've been the storm rifle. The buzz sword was currently simply retracted in its handle. That meant the carnifex would be the triple barrel pistol.

Nova gave Martin and Corin a nod and they began crawling away into the ducts.

"I thought you were on the _Valorous_," Corin whispered as he wriggled through the cramped tin tunnels.

"There were bloody roach bullet sponges in the ring room," Martin explained, referring to the Ror'char troopers. "Wasn't going to risk taking on two troopers and there are War of the Worlds tripods stomping around outside."

"So we need another plan," Nova said, carefully moving forward, afraid that a trooper below might hear noise in the vents.

"Got one," Martin said. "That ship of theirs, _Valorous_, it's going to pick us up and take us stargate headquarters. We just need to make it to the roof."

-.-

The explosions from the battle lit up the void of space like fireworks. The _Valorous_ cruised away from the battle.

"The Valorous has withdrawn; the VIP's are heading back to the planet."

"Sensors detect the vidact in pursuit. Stop it at all costs."

The shields of the _Valorous_ turn crimson as the ship enters the atmosphere, the violent flashes of the carnage behind them vanishing in the distance. The vidact wasn't far behind, the triangular saucer ignoring the other ships so it can pursue. An Eloran cruiser maneuvered itself in front of the massive dreadnaught, raining fire on the Ror'char ship. But, the vidact was not deterred. It didn't even bother firing; it continued moving forward, its shields absorbing the explosions and energy blasts. The Eloran cruiser thought that it could act as a wall, a deterrent to not pass. It didn't. The vidact plowed through the cruiser like it was nothing, the cruiser shattering against the vidact's shields, the debris bouncing and drifting off into space. And the vidact continued.

-.-

The doors to the roof the building burst open as Nova, Martin, and Corin ran onto the roof. The sky was completely covered by smog now, the roof carpeted by ash and massive chunks of cement and crumpled thrown up by nearby explosions.

"They're not here yet," Nova breathed. "Guess we just wait." Things were getting increasingly bleak but she remained hopeful things would end up ok.

Martin and Corin looked around, watching the columns of smoke all across the city.

"Check upstairs," a voice echoed from down the stairs where they just came. Martin and Corin both whipped around.

"You gotta be bloody kidding me," Martin exclaimed, running and slamming the door to the roof closed. He looked around desperately for a way to barricade the door.

"Help me with this," Nova said, grabbing a chunk of cement. It looked like it used to be a piece of a wall. During the first volley, the explosions must have thrown it up to the roof. Corin and Martin both grabbed an edge and lifted it up, dust and sand seeping off of the giant slab as they set it against the door.

"That isn't going to hold them," Corin pointed out. Simply forcing the door open with a slab of cement leaning against it would be impossible but the Ror'char could simply blast the door open.

"Hopefully it won't have to," Nova said, getting her P90 and Ror'char storm rifle ready.

"C'mon, Steven," Martin muttered, readying his ion rifle. Corin hid while Nova and Martin took cover behind some debris. "Where are you, mate?"

Then, they waited. They heard the footsteps of the troopers neared the door.

"It's stuck," a hollow voice said on the other side.

"Tear it down!" another voice hissed. The door and cement slab leaning against it burst apart, a wall of flames surging from the entrance, reducing both to smoldering debris. Nova didn't even wait to see the enemy before opening fire, both P90 and alien weapon, at the door.

The P90 didn't do much against the first Ror'char trooper that stepped out but their armor could do nothing against the storm rifle. Its molecules and matter ripped right out of its body, a few seconds of sustained fire and the first trooper had a crater the size of a watermelon in its chest.

Martin appeared and finished him off, landing a powerful bolt of particles from his ion rifle right in the wounded trooper's chest, the force of the blast tossing the trooper back like a rag doll.

Two other troopers appeared and leapt for cover as their ambushed comrade violently flew past them.

The roars and bangs of their battle carried across the metropolis. The storm of bullets and energy bolts flying back and forth was so loud it sounded like it was the loudest thing in the entire city.

"I'm losing cover here!" Martin yelled. The powerful Ror'char weapons were ripping apart the cement debris he was hiding behind. It wasn't going to be long before it was completely gone.

Another pair of troopers emerged from the doorway, weapons ablaze.

"We're about to be overrun!" Nova yelled.

The troopers first aimed at Nova and Martin but their attention was immediately diverted elsewhere. They immediately aimed up at the sky and opened fire. Nova and Martin looked up.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Major Jennifer Hailey yelled triumphantly as the ramp underneath the _Valorous_ lowered, at least a dozen Amestrian troops armed and ready on the ramp. In Hailey's hands was an enormous laser cannon. She fired a massive bolt of electricity that hit a Ror'char trooper square in the chest, the force of the blast lifting him off his feet and sending him flying backwards, plumes of fire and smoke coming out of the impact. The wounded trooper tried to get up but a second shot sent him flying off the building.

"Move it you two!" Chen yelled, appearing and spraying at the troopers with his P90. Corin, Martin, and Nova all made a break for the ship, a storm of gunfire right behind them. They jumped onto the ramp as they watched Amestrian soldiers in front of them get slaughtered by the oncoming gunfire. Two Ror'char troopers finally fell as the soldiers and Chen rained fire on them.

"They're on, go!" Hailey yelled. The ramp hummed to life as it began to raise, the last two troopers vanishing from sight. Suddenly, at the last moment, a grappling line shot up and latched onto the ceiling. Chen turned around just in time to see a Ror'char trooper pull himself onto the ramp at the last moment with a grappling hook in his gauntlet. The string to his grapple snapped off as the trooper immediately took aim at Chen.

There was a metallic bang and Chen felt something fly past his ear. The Ror'char trooper gave a final cry of pain as a massive metal stake punctured into his helmet like an arrow, the tip shredding apart every molecule in its way. The head gave a violent twitch backwards, as if the metal rod was ready to simply rip the head off as it passed through, but the stake was stopped and the trooper's head remained attached with a massive prong embedded in it. There was a quiet hiss and a small puff of smoke began to seep out of the helmet.

Chen blinked a couple times, stunned by how close he came to death and even more stunned that he was staring at the end of a six inch prong that had been put through the trooper's head. The trooper's body fell limply to the ground, the end of the prong hitting the floor with a clank. Chen looked behind him and saw Corin, carnifex pistol in hand, staring at the trooper's body, stunned stiff by what he just did.

"Thanks," Chen choked.

Corin Nevec was not a soldier. He was a teacher; his experience with weapons was strictly to the firing range. Every time he had to use his gun he tried and failed miserably. This was the first time he actually managed to successfully fire one. And, it was the first time he ever killed anyone with it.

"You did good," Nova said, putting her hand on his shoulder. Corin gave an exasperated cough and nodded at her. "Just keep your eyes open next time."

Chen nearly fell over when he heard this.

"Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!" he exclaimed.

"Come on," Nova said, grabbing Chen by the arm and dragging him off.

Corin just stared at the trooper's body then at the pistol he used. He looked at the metal prong embedded in the trooper's head. He was never going to get used to this; used to all the fighting.

He quietly turned around and followed the three surviving Amestrian soldiers out of the hangar.

-.-

Gallgan sat in the captain's chair, his hand to his head in fear and anxiety. He looked toward the front view screen. They were already away from the capital city so he at least didn't have to see the city ruins.

"Commander," Nova said as she stepped onto the bridge. Galligan stood up when he heard his rank called. Nova walked up to him and extended her hand. "Appreciate the rescue. Chen and Hailey told me about you."

"Likewise," Galligan said graciously, shaking her hand. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Nova looked at the forward view screen. The ship was already in the clouds, streaking across the landscape.

"Where we headed?" Nova asked, watching the clouds fly past.

"SGHQ," Galligan said. "It was temporarily shut down during the public disclosure. Once we get there, dial Millennium and get out while you can."

"I appreciate what you're doing," Nova said. She knew that by getting them to the gate they had abandoned the fight and left their friends behind.

"Eleven countries have already surrendered to the Ror'char," Galigan explained. "Amestris has lost over half its government officials, and the superpowers aren't responding. Elora is lost. I want you to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" Nova asked.

"Remember us. We may not have been the galaxy's most outstanding race, but we tried. Remember us not for who we were, but who we tried to be."

The crew around the bridge hung their heads when they heard this. They knew that their lives were going to completely change after this, their homes would be gone. The world they knew would be no more.

"Commander," one of the helmsmen said. "ETA is five minutes."

"Commander, we are detecting an inbound craft on intercept course approaching fast," a technician yelled.

"Confirmed. Size and shape matches the vidact."

Before another word could be said, the entire ship rocked, sparks flying out of the ceiling, pipes exploding. Several technician were thrown back by the explosions, other crewmen grabbing fire extinguishers to help them.

"Get your team to the escape shuttles!" Galligan told at Nova. "The pilot will get you the rest of the way! Gate back while you can!"

"But," Nova began to protest.

"GO!" Galligan yelled.

-.-

The Valorous turned to face the massive ship as a tiny escape shuttle left its hangar. Enormous green bolts of electricity shot out of the edge of the ship, narrowly missing the Valorous and hitting the mountain side. Flames exploded from the impact site as the bolt dragged across the ground. Bolts streaked through the sky toward the massive saucer, exploding against its shields.

"Gents," Galligan announced as the vidact's massive black figure loomed overhead, its shields effortlessly blocking every missile and laser bolt fired at it. "It's been an honor. This may be the Valorous' last battle, make no mistake, we will be remembered."

One last bolt of electricity shot out of the vidact, hitting the Valorous head on. The electricity jump across the ship's shimmering shields before reaching the vulnerable ship beneath it. Arcs of energy danced across the surface of the hull, sparks flying out of every corner, before the ship burst into flames, a ball of fire erupting from the center of the ship, tearing it apart. The flaming remains rained to the ground as the vidact flew past.

-.-

Wolf Pack was solemnly quiet after what they just saw. They heard of planets being conquered but they've never actually seen it up close before.

"The fighting on Elora continued, despite knowing what would happen if it didn't stop," Nova explained to General Mercer at the conference table. "It started with extremist groups but then citizens began to join in. It wasn't long until entire countries started pulling out of talks."

"One event sowed the seeds of further violence," Corin added. "Even knowing that they would be invaded if they didn't stop fighting each other, they still continued. Public knowledge of the stargate brought back just about every conflict in their history. The Ror'char attacked once the deadline was up."

"We've tried dialing back to Elora," Hailey said. "We're able to establish a wormhole but no response to our radio. I think we can assume the Ror'char have taken control of stargate headquarters."

"We have a small drive of data on their technologies and a couple planets," Chen continued. "We can load it up for the tech teams to sift through."

"It'll make life here a tiny bit easier," Martin remarked. "We've given the pilot some quarters but, he's taking the fall of Elora pretty hard."

"We all are," Nova pointed out.

Mercer leaned forwards and gave a thoughtful sigh. He had been on Millennium the entire time. He had no idea what they had seen while on the planet.

"Very well," he said slowly. The team all stood up, ready to leave, ready to find something to try to help them forget.

"One more thing," Mercer said, standing up. Wolf Pack froze and turned to look at the General. "I know I was not on the planet, but I understand how you feel. Elora was a lot of things for a lot of people. It was not just a source of resources. For many people, it made them think of home. And, its destruction reverberates our fears for Earth."

Mercer reached underneath the table and gently took out a tray of wine glasses. They tall took a single glass as Mercer took out a bottle of champagne from under the table. He opened the cap with a gentle pop before pouring it into all the glasses.

"To the planet and the people of Elora."


End file.
